Dispensing container



Dec. 11, 1962 D. SALK DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed May 12, 1959 F I G.

F I G. l

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INVENTOR. DONALD SALK QM- w ATTORNEY Y United States Patent Ofitice3,067,787 Patented Dec. 11, 1962 3,067,787 DISPENSING CONTAINER DonaldSalk, Cranston, R.I., assignor of thirty-three and one-third percent toNorton Salk, Cranston, R.I. Filed May 12, 1959, Ser. No. 812,713 2Claims. (Cl. 141-321) The present invention relates generally todispensing containers, and is more particularly concerned with theprovision of a container having means associated therewith forcontrolling the amount or quantity of the contents of the containerdispensed with each operation.

My invention is particularly applicable to medicinal containers of thetype commonly found in the home, where one of the long-standing problemshas been the possibility of infants or children acquiring possession ofsuch a container and taking an overdose of the contents thereof, therebyoften resulting in grievous injury or harm to'the child. Many attemptshave been made to produce containers which are tamper-proof or whichhave some sort of safety feature to prevent children from inadvertentlytaking an overdose of the contents of the container, where said contentscomprise medicinal tablets or the like. However, these previous attemptshave generally proven to be unsatisfactory, either because ofinelficiency in operation, or, if efficient, because of difficulty ofmanipulation by an adult to obtain the desired dosage. For example, someattempts have been made to provide medicinal containers of this typewith a cap which perhaps frictionally wedges to the container to closesame so that it requires a relatively high degree of strength to removesame. As will be obvious, such an arrangement in undesirable in thatthere is always the possibility of a cover not being secured in closedposition firmly enough, whereupon it would be capable of removal by achild; or, in the alternative, there is always the possibility of arelatively strong child being able to remove the cap, even if firmlysecured in its closed position. On the other hand, if the cap is sofirmly secured in closed position so as to make it unlikely that anychild could remove same, then there is always the possibility that itwould be diflicult for many adults to effect its removal.

It therefore is a primary object of my invention to provide a container,particularly adapted for medicinal use, wherein removal of the containercap automatically dispenses a predetermined amount or quantity of thecontents of the container, while at the same time the container becomesautomatically sealed so that additional contents cannot be dispensed.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of acontainer having a cap removably associated therewith, said cap and saidcontainer having cooperating means for eifecting the dispensing of apredetermined quantity of the contents of the container each time thecap is mounted in fully closed position and then removed.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a container of thecharacter described so constructed as to make it highly unlikely that achild would ever take an overdose of the contents of said container, butwhich still enables an adult to dispense a desired dosage from thecontainer with a minimum of diiriculty and lost time.

Still another object is the provision of a dispensing container capableof achieving the afore-enumerated objects, but which nevertheless issimple and economically feasible to manufacture.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered inconnection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated byme for carrying out my invention:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, illustrating acontainer constructed in accordance with my invention with the cap infully closed position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale,illustrating the container neck in inverted position with the capremoved therefrom;

FIG. 3 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, showing an insertwhich may form a part of my invention; and

FIG. 4 is a top plan View of the insert shown in FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2thereof, there is shown a container 10 having a neck portion 12 at oneextremity thereof, said neck portion being open at its free end as at 14and externally threaded as at 16 to receive a cap 18 internally threadedas at 20. It will be understood that the container 10 may be of anydesired size or shape and that it may be constructed of a material otherthan glass, as illustrated, such as plastic or the like, for example.Gen erally speaking, the only requirement for container Ill is that ithave a neck portion having an opening, such as 14, through which thecontents of the container may be dispensed.

In order to make it mandatory that only a predetermined amount of thecontents of container 10 will be dispensed at any one time, thecontainerneck portion is provided 'with an insert 22 which fits snuglytherein. The insert 22 is preferably of integral, one-piece moldedconstruction and has a cylindrical wall 24 and an outwardly extendingterminal flange 26, said flange being adapted to engage the open edge 28of the container 10 with the cylindrical wall 24 extending snugly alongthe interior of container neck portion 12. For reasons hereinafter tobecome apparent, insert 22 is constructed of a somewhat resilientmaterial, and I prefer to utilize any non-toxic, resilient plastic,although it will be understood that any material capable ofsterilization and having suflicient resilience could effectively be usedin the construction of the insert member.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, it will be seen that the insert 22 isprovided with an integral diaphragm 30, which diaphragm is radiallyslited from its center point as at 32 so as to provide a plurality offlexible fingers 34. When the insert 22 is secured to the interior ofthe neck portion 12 of container 10, either by being a press-fittherein, or by any other suitable means, the slitted diaphragm 30normally spans said neck portion, and is sufiiciently rigid so as toprevent the contents of container 10 from spilling outwardly therefromwhen the container is inverted and the cap 18 removed.

In order to dispense a desired amount or quantity of the contents ofcontainer 10, the cap 18 is provided with a centrally positioned,circular, depending wall 36 which defines an open pocket 38. It isimportant to note that wall 36 extends from the surface 40 of the cap 18a distance sufficient to penetrate diaphragm 30 when the cap 18 isengaged with container so as to completely close same. Expresseddifferently, the spacing of diaphragm 30 from edge 28 of container 10 isless than the distance through which wall 36 extends inwardly of thecontainer neck 12, thereby insuring that when cap 18 is threadedcompletely to its closed position, the said wall 36 will force its waythrough the slitted diaphragm 30 whereby to expose pocket 38 to theinterior of the container 10, as will be seen most clearly in FIG. 1 ofthe drawings.

Thus, when it is desired to remove a certain number or amount of thecontents of container 10, it is simply necessary to make sure that thecap 18 is threaded completely to its closed position, after which thecontainer is inverted and the cap removed. As the cap is removed fromthe container, the wall 36 in pocket 38 will move outwardly from thediaphragm 30- whereby the latter will automatically assume its closedposition due to the natural resilience of the material employed, therebyinsuring that the only contents dispensed will be that which is presentin pocket 38. My invention is particularly appli-cable to containershousing tablets, pills or the like, it being apparent that the pocket 38is shaped and dimensioned so as to receive one or two pills at a time,although it will be understood that the pocket may be dimensioned so asto receive any other desired number of pills during each dispensingoperation. Even though my invention is particularly adaptable for usewith the dispensing of pills, tablets and the like, it will beunderstood that it is also of value in connection with the dispensing ofa desired amount of powdered material. In such a situation, it isnecessary that the diaphragm 30 be sufiiciently rigid so as to preventthe powdered or granular material from seeping outwardly therethroug-hwhen the container is inverted and the cap removed.

The insert 22 is preferably provided with an annular, inwardly curvedguide portion 42 which cooperates with a taper 44 provided at the inneredge of the fingers 34 to provide a smooth, inwardly curved guidesurface 46 when the cap 18 is in its closed position. This guide surfacefunctions to facilitate the fiow of the contents of the container 10into pocket 38 when the container is inverted.

It will be understood that where insert 22 is a separate member, asillustrated, the terminal flange 28 functions to insure that thediaphragm 30 is always properly positioned in the container neckportion. This is important. since my invention would become completelyinoperative if the diaphragm should somehow become sufliciently spacedfrom edge 28 so as to become incapable of penetration by wall 36 whencap 18 is moved to its closed position. At the same time, terminalflange 28 functions as a compressible gasket to insure proper closingand sealing of the container when cap 18 is threaded tightly to itsclosed position.

In some situations, where container 10 is of plastic construction, itmay be possible and even desirable to integrally mold the insert 22within the container neck portion. Obviously, such a modification willhave no effect on either the concepts or operation of my invention asafore-described. By the same token, although the cap 18 is illustratedas being of integral, molded plastic construction, it may be otherwiseconstructed, and specifically, the wall 36 may be a separate elementsecured to the interior of cap 18 by any suitable means. In such asituation, it might be possible to have different size pocket-s 38, eachof which could be readily attachable to the cap 18, in order to enable adifferent number or quantity of the contents of the container to bedispensed in a given operation. In other words, where it is desired todispense one pill at a time, a certain size pocket would be mounted tothe interior of cap 18; whereas when it is desired to dispense two pillsat a time, a correspondingly larger pocket would be secured to the cap.

It is also important to note that while I prefer to utilize a cap whichthreadedly engages the neck of container lit, such is not essential tosuccessful operation of my invention, since the cooperation of the partswould be substantially the same where the cap is constructed so as toslidably engage the bottle neck, for example. No matter what thespecific nature of the engagement between the cap and the container maybe, however, it will be apparent that each time it is desired todispense a pill from container 10, the container must first be invertedand then the cap removed. While such a modus operandi is extremelysimple and uncomplicated for an adult, it would be quite unlikely that asmall child would be able to figure out how to obtain a plurality ofpills, and even if the child should catch on to the operation of mydevice, it is unlikely that he would have sufficient patience torepeatedly thread and unthread the cap such as would be necessary toeffect a plurality of dispensing operations. It therefore follows thatthe instant invention provides a dispensing container which issubstantially as simple and rapid for an adult to manipulate when it isdesired to remove one or more pills or the like from the container, andwhich has the added advantage of enabling said pill or pills to beautomatically dispensed without the necessity of handling a plurality ofthe pills to segregate the desired dosage. This obviously isaconsiderable advantage from a standpoint of cleanliness and sanitation.In addition, as hereinbefore described, it is extremely unlikely that aninfant or small child could or would successfully manipulate the instantcontainer so as to obtain a damaging overdose therefrom.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structuresembodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the antthat various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventiveconcept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms hereinshown and described except in so far as indicated by the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispensing container having an opening at one end thereof, a capremova-bly engageable with said one end to selectively open or closesaid opening, an insert including a slitted resilient diaphragm locatedadjacent to and spanning said opening, whereby when said container isinverted its contents will be maintained therewithin by said diaphragmeven when said cap is removed, and an inwardly curved guid portionintegrally formed in said insert and located adjacent to and beneathsaid diaphragm when the container is upright, said cap having acentrally positioned, circular depending wall defining a pocket, saidwall extending inwardly of the container a distance sufiicient to flexsaid slitted resilient diaphragm to open position when said cap isengaged with said container, said diaphragm being radially slitted so asto provide a plurality of pointed fingers, the under surface of saiddiaphragm tapering downwardly to the center thereof whereby each fingeris substantially thicker at its inner pointed edge than at its outeredge, the under surface of each finger being in abutting relation withthe upper end of the aforesaid guide portion when said diaphragm isflexed to open po ition by said cap, whereby the thickened pointed edgeof each finger forms a smooth continuation of the inwardly curved partof said guide portion to insure funneling of the contents of saidcontainer into said pocket when the container is capped and inverted.

2. A dispensing container having an open end at one extremity thereof, aslitted resilient diaphragm spanning said open end, and a cap removablyengageable with said container open end to close same, said cap having acentrally positioned, circular depending wall defining a pockct, saidwall extending inwardly of said container open end when the cap is inits normal engaged position a distance suificient to flex said diaphragmto open position, said diaphragm being radially slitted so as to providea plurality of pointed fingers, the under surface of said diaphragmtapering downwardly to the center thereof, whereby each finger issubstantially thicker at its inner pointed edge than at its outer edge,each of said pointed inner edges tapering outwardly from top to bottom,said thickened pointed edges, when the fingers are fully flexed,extending angularly toward said pocket to help guide contents of thecontainer into said pocket when the container is capped and inverted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS MartinSept. 4, 1934 Berendt Oct. 16, 1934 Steurnagel et a1 Nov. 21, 1939Rhodes Nov. 9, 1943 Gronemeyer et a1 July 27, 1948 Schlesinger June 19,1951 Haddad Jan. 24, 1956 Stifter Oct. 25, 1960

